FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) – If there were any signs that Staff Sgt. Jason Lowe was struggling, the soldiers he served alongside didn’t see them.
The 27-year-old paratrooper was a top performer. He was on the Commandant’s List and had just finished second in his class in the Army’s Advanced Leader Course, setting him up for a promotion within the storied 82nd Airborne Division.
Yet, five days after graduation, after Lowe left texts and calls unreturned, Staff Sgt. Ryan Graves drove to Lowe’s apartment in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with a bad feeling.
“On the way there I think it set in that maybe there’s something a lot worse going on,” Graves said.
Graves opened Lowe’s unlocked apartment door to discover his friend had taken his own life. Weeks later, the why remains unanswered.